I I I II I'l 1 1 1 1 1* till I lUJLLLU ! | iniiiiiiini tniiiin n 1 1 1111 1 11 11 in hi jiii n 11 1 m iiiinii mi j muj iijiVu;IIi mj_m ' "miiiiui mum 1 Mill I I || I || ; I I B I I || I Ml I I II I IIII IIII I III I III t II I II I S I I I I I I M IIII II I 91 III I I I I I I I | I ) I I II I II I I I I I I II I I II I I I II I I I I I I II I I I I I I II III IE |l |l I I I i I I I Historical Skatefe {as pueptes de "5'ai? Jor^e Of the parrtoqs Sppings of SP^IHG VAlibEY pJeaP San Diego, California. • ti i m 1 ii 1 1 ii 11 1 in il mm imi in un i in mi i im 1 1 1 1 1 iilii 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m 11 1 m i i i m i i i i i i'i i i i hi i i i m imiiiiiiiiihiiihiiii iMiiiiimim il(il!3l!IIJIIilli!llll!iniillll[ll!ll!IM I M I II I I 1 II I I I I • I M I I I I I I II M I 1 1 I II « II I I M I I I II I I M M I I I I I I I 1 M 3 I MM t 'II I I M I M B I ¦ ¦<¦ M I M | I I, I I II It I 1 1 I M I HI t.Jf M-> |i| Of '4 HISTORICAL SKETCH OK LAS FUENTES DE SAN JORGE OR THE FAMOUS SPRINGS OF Spring Valley Near San Diego, California "Away back in aboriginal times, long before ever the first missionaries from Mexico planted their ¦ feet on the shores of San Diego bay, thousands of dark-skinned natives crowded round the waters of Spring Valley, making there, a happy abode, as in -any Eden> snaring on the hills and in the vales around the plentiful game, and grinding in their metates the maize and wild oats and barley, of which they made their staple food. Presently after the coming of the Spaniards, the attention of white men was drawn to the spot, the most attractive of any in all that region within an equal distance from the. seaboard. Las Fuentes de San Jorge, of the Springs of Saint George, they called it, the way thereto being over a rolling country, distant ten miles south-easterly from the present city of San Diego. In the center of a beautiful valley were two large springs, or ponds, each made up, apparently, of several springs, Some of which were tinged with minerals. Below the springs was a large sheet of never- failing water; to the borders of which re- THE SPRINGS OF SPRING VALLEY sorted from every quarter thirsty men and beasts. The natives, simple in their habits, but wise in their simplicity, turned to mother earth for cure of all their ills ; and the earliest observations preserved testify to the decrepit and rheumatic aboriginals gathering there and bathing in warm sulphur water, and drinking of the health-giving springs, and of the marvellous efficacy of the treatment. These waters now mingle with the rest, but the springs, Capt. R. K. Porter tells us, are easily pointed out, and adds, that while owning the place he was repeatedly urged to develop what undoubtedly was a fortune run to waste, but which he had not the means to in vestigate. About these springs have been found abundant relics of In dian warfare, and stories have reached us of bloody battles about 1801, in the open plain where the adobe now stands, when a few Mexicans, with their rude guns and swords, mas sacred immense numbers of savages. A wall of cactus stood for years, the remains of an impenetrable fort of thorns, within which the padres and their few followers sought shelter and protection. Toward the north and east, mountain peaks shoot upward to a moderate height ; from the top of the one called Helix, El Cajon and the ocean are at once visible, and from the summit of another, Lookout Mountain, ships are plainly seen passing up and down the coast. Immediately perceiving the natural advantages of the place ¦ in a measure never fully appreciated by any of their successors, the first-comers applied themselves to its utilization. Indeed, the padres had thought at first to plant their mission here, but the site on the river being nearer the presidio and Old Town landing, and likewise easier of defence in case of attack by the savages, Las Fuentes de San Jorge were left for a garden spot, for THE SPRINGS OF SPRING VALLEY fruit and vines and vegetables ; for although some distance from the Mission, there was nowhere to be found such soil and climate, unpleasant heat or frost being alike almost unknown. ' ' We found the azequia, or irrigating ditch, ' ' Captain Porter writes " ' to corroborate what we had been told ; in fact, it can still be traced in places." ' ' My idea is ' ' continues Porter ' ' that the whole of the low stretch in the vicinity of the present aguajes was a deep body of water fed by many springs besides those which now supply the water for the main pond ; in fact an inexhaustible supply for irrigation and all other necessary purposes." After the secularization of the missions in 1834, garden cultivation by the padres was abandoned; and the place became the center of a wide sheep range, an old Mexican camping there with his family. Not long after the year i860 a San Diego lawyer, Judge Ensworth, who was in ill health, obtained a possessory claim, and spent a portion of his time there. He walled up the spacious springs, and built an adobe house, with broad piazza, obtaining his lumber of Captain Bogart, from an old ship that lay broken up at Old Town. This was the Clarissa Adams, formerly an emigrant ship running between Boston and Liverpool, but which for many years past had been used by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company as a coal vessel. The heavy joists and mahogany stairs leading into the cellar of the adobe are noticeable relics. With great difficulty and tedious delays the lumber was hauled into the valley. Upon the death of Ensworth, Porter purchased the place, used then by E. W. Morse for sheep herding, and moving his family there from San Pedro in 1865, began stock raising, the springs becoming the general rendezvous and rodeo grounds for a wide extent of country. ' ' We had all the valley to our selves," he says, "and the whole country round was public THE SPRINGS OF SPRING VALLEY property so far as stock was concerned. There was a good de mand for butter and eggs in Old Town, as there were few pro ducers. I used to go by the same road to San Diego then as to-day, but the old road by way of the Mission Valley was the shortest to Old Town. E. W. Morse was then our principal merchant. ' ' With the advent of A. E. Horton came settlers for the adja cent valleys, among them Mr. Burbeck, who located himself near Porter's place. The lands of the old Mission came down to Porter's line on one side, and included part of the Burbeck lands. About 1880 Smith Campbell bought a claim in the Mission lands, which, after the partition, was found to join Porter on one side, while the property of C. S. Crosby bordered on another side. In a little valley over the hills from Porter's, Smith Campbell with an Indian wife reared a dusky race, cut ting from his lands a heavy crop of hay, and this' with the rudest means of cultivation. As years rolled on, Spring Valley became settled, the center always remaining at San Jorge, although its Spanish name had become obsolete, and it was spoken of as "The Springs." Here was the fountain head of clear water, and people came several miles to carry it to their homes, for in other portions of the valley alkali tainted the water, making it in varying de grees obnoxious to man and beast as well as injurious to vege tation. Here, naturally, the post-office was established with Capt. Porter in charge, and a school-house was built, which, on week days and Sundays, was a public meeting house. In 1885-6 Mr. H. H. Bancroft purchased the places of Captain Porter and Smith Campbell, and parts of the lands of Mr. Crosby and Mrs. Burbeck, in all five hundred and fifteen acres, which he called the Helix Farms, and set about improving. The Helix post-office being already on his place, THE SPRINGS OF SPRING VALLEY he erected a blacksmith's forge, and other buildings, and moved thither from town the Pablo Poultry Yards, the finest estab lishment of the kind on this coast. The first year he put out a hundred acres in trees and vines, besides 50,000 olive cuttings in nursery, and several acres in guavas. He introduced into the county some of the best breeds of horses, cattle and other stock, at a time when the standard was very low. In addition to the probably inexhaustible springs, wells were dug in several places, water being found within eight or ten feet of the surface and drifting toward the source an abundance was easily obtained. Ground perpetually moist in places, indi cate underground springs yet to be developed. Mr. Bancroft's plan has been, at his convenience to erect a reservoir on elevated ground and from the springs obtain a supply sufficient to water the entire valley. Then with plenty of water for irrigation, he would erect an adobe palace in the form of a square with hos pitable piazzas in true Andalusian style, and with an inner court resplendent with ever blooming flowers and redolent with the perfume of the orange tree and jasmine, while palms and banana trees, the camphor and the rubber tree, figs and pom egranates would vie with one another in luxuriant growth. Naturally, the soil varies in different parts of the Helix Farms, some being a black loam, some red lands, and some of a light adobe, not difficult to work. Such adobe, when properly worked, is conceded to be the strongest soil for grain, potatoes, etc. ; the red soil is specially adapted to muscat grapes, which grow to great size, and, owing to absence of fogs and frost, make the finest of raisins ; other portions of the land seem un- equaled for olive culture, a tree which a hundred years ago the padres planted at the Mission, and which is still bearing fruit in abundance. In planning out a stretch of two or three hundred acres of 6 THE SPRINGS OF SPRING VALLEY olives, Mr. Bancroft felt that he was laying the foundation of an industry that, for numberless generations, would yield un ceasing returns, a living and evergreen monument for all time. Long neglected as was this garden spot, it has suddenly sprung into recognition and into immediate connection with the outside world. Railroads now are being built or are pro jected in and around Spring Valley ; the motor running from San Diego into La Presa, which has its boundary in Spring Valley ; the Sweetwater branch on the one side and the Julian road on the other, with intended connection with El Cajon, make it iron-encircled, and before long not half an hour distant from town. Water, too, is being carried in close proximity by flume companies, though hardly needed here. YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 08854 5455